Apparatus for washing dishes, silverware, and the like



' Fe 24, 19 2- D. E.\YOCHEM 7 2,274,024

APPARATUS FOR WASHING DISHES, SILVERWARE, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 2, 1959 2; sheet -shed 1 Jam/mam Feb. 24, 1942. V D. E. YocHEM 2,274,024

APPARATUS FOR WASHING DISHES, SILVERWARE, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov 2, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet? Patented Feb. '24, 1942 7' [UNITED S AT PAT ' APPAnA'rus ron WASHING msnns,

. SILVERWARE, AND THE LIKE i Donald E. Yochem, Columbus, Ohio, assig'nor to 3' L. S. D., Inc., Ohio Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of npplicationllovember 2,1939, serial No. 362,595

8 Claims. (01. cow

Thisinvention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for washing, rinsing,

V and drying dishes, silverware, and the like, and is a modification of the apparatus disclosed and claimed in my Patent No. 2,137,971, issued November 23, 1938, and inmy copending applicationSer. No. 302,594, filed November 2,1939, now Patent Number 2,257,929. More specifically,

this inventionv relates to fluid impelling mechanism which is adapted to be employed in placeof the impelling mechanism disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

'In my aforesaid, copending applicatioml have described the advantages to be obtained, over the I 1 fluid impelling mechanism disclosed and claimed in my issued patent, by expelling the treatment fluid .from ashallow trough formedin thebottom wall ofthe treatment housing by means of a plurality of rapidly rotating impe'ller wheels carried by a horizontal impeller shaft and continuously deflecting the concentrated, horizontallyelongated, vertically fan-shaped stream of treatment-fluid intodifferent portions of the inrequiringa A further important object of th is to providenoveldeflector means for continuously. moving or shifting the concentrated discharge offlnely 'ato'mized fluid dispersed at a high velocity from a collecting trough by a rapidly rotating'impeller. X Y Other objects and advantages oi-the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

- stream deflector member,

terior of the treatment housing so thatthe' dishes, silverware, and the like, will be repeatedly subjectedto the action of the treatment fluid in the concentrated stream. The deflecting of the concentrated stream of treatment fluid is accomplished in my aforesaid application by means I of a deflector which is oscillated betweena position within and a position outside of the shalthe impelling means for changing the radial dilow trough. The advantages to be obtained from I the use of the fluid lmpelling mechanism or my copending application are the more eflicient treatment oiv the dishes, silverware, and'the like,

due to the greater concentration of the treating, rinsing, and drying operation. a

. It is the primary, object of; this invention to provide fluid impelling-mechanism for dish .washing machines in which the treatment fluids are collected in and dispersed from a troughformed in the bottom wall of the housing by a plurality ofrapidly rotating impeller wheels, mounted, on

a common horizontal shaft, anddeflecting the dispersed, concentrated stream of treatment fluid into different portions of the interior of the treatment housing by means or acontinuously rocking deflector operatively arranged outside of the discharge side of thefluid collecting trough. Thistype of fluidimpelling mechanism also acment fluid and the need for employing a smaller 1 amount of hot water during each complete wash- I Figuresf l, 5, anddare detail, vertical lsectional views which illustrate three operative positions a of the deflector member; which "cooperates with rectio'n oi discharge of the fluid, and.

Figure 'l is a iragmentary,yvertical sectional view illustrating a modified form of deflector means.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown the preferred embodit ments of this invention, the reference character "Lin Fig. 1, designates inits entirety the lionsing-portion of the. dish washing, rinsing,"and drying machine embodying this invention. This housing includes a main body portion II which legs 12 and a removable cover l3.

The main body portion ll of is supported at its four corners by ineansoi the the housing is formed by a bottom 'wall ll having a shallow,

transversely curved trough liiormed therein and Y bearing members maybe/of any conventionalp .form andmay be either plain or anti-friction bearings. Journaled in these bearings is an imcomplishes the very desirableresults of subjecting the articles being treated to a more concentrated application of .the treatment fluidand of and. I1, and end walls l8 extending longitudinally thereof, side walls l6 and I9. The end walls areprovided with axially aligned bearing apertures 20 which receive the bearing members 2|. It is to .be understood that these peller shaft 22 which has'one end projecting outwardly of its bearingvto be connected by the coupling Zlwiththe armature shaft of an electric niotor 24 which is mounted' on a bracket 25 smaller amount of hotwater for each complete, washing and rinsing operation. 1

invention j ment of the deflector means.

that is suitably bolted, or otherwise secured to the end wall I9 of the main body portion II of the housing.

Secured at suitably spaced axial points along the portion of the impeller shaft 22 arranged between the bearings 2| are the impeller wheels 26. These impeller wheels are each formed by a hub portion 21 and a suitable number of longitudinally curved, radially projecting impeller blades 28. It will be noted by inspecting Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive, that the impeller shaft 22 is eccentricallyarranged with respect to the curved trough I or closer to the discharge side 29 of the trough than it is to the return side 30. The

impeller blades 28 are of a proper length, relative to the spacing of the impeller shaft 22 from the inner surface of the trough I5 so that the blades will dip into the trough and pick up the fluid 3| from the trough and expel the same in the form of a stream 32 from the discharge side 29 of the trough. This stream 32 of finely atomized fluid substantially corresponds in width :to the length of the trough I4 and'is substantially of fan-shape in vertical section:

If the stream 32 were permitted to be expelled into the housing without encountering any obstructing or deflecting surfaces, the vertically fan-shaped stream would always be directed into the lower, left hand corner portion of the housing, as viewed in Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive. The discharge side or edge 29 of the trough I5 would function to determine this direction of discharge. As all of the dishes, or the like, arranged throughout the housing would not be subjected totreatment by the fluid if the stream were always discharged in this way, it becomes necessary to provide deflecting means which can be moved continuously so as to change the direction of discharge of the stream. vThis deflecting means must be associated with the discharge side 29 of the trough to accomplish this desired result. In Figs. 2 and" 4 to 6, inclusive, there has been disclosed one form of deflecting means'which is suitable to accomplish the desired results'. v

' This deflector means includes a transversely curved deflector blade 33 which is carried by the rock-shaft 34 mounted in bearings 35 at its opposite ends. The blade 33 is formed with an enlarged inner edge portion 36' through which the rock-shaft 34 passes. Fig. 2 clearly illustrates the length of the deflector blade 33 and its enlarged edge portion 36 as'being of less site ends of this deflector means. The inner surface of the blade 33 functions as a deflecting surface for the fluid of the stream 32, and the base or outer face 31 alsofunctions as a deflecting surface for the stream. This deflector'member, therefore, possesses dual deflecting surfaces. Fig. 4 illustrates on extreme limit of move- In this position, the'blade portion33 extends substantially horizontally and lies beneath or beyond the deflecting surface 31 of the enlarged edge 36.

This deflecting surface 31 controls the direction of discharge of the stream 32, when the deflecting means is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4. 'Itwill be noted that the stream 32 is fan-shaped in vertical section and covers a considerable portion. of the interior of the housing which includes all of the side wall I6 of the main body portion, the overlying sidewall of the cover I3 and a. portion offthe' top;wallfofithe said cover. The deflecting surface '31, due to 'its'width'; elimstream 32 is obtained primarilyhyl nieans of the curved deflector blade 33., The deflecting surface 31 has some deflecting action on the stream but, as stated, the blade 33 primarily controls the direction of discharge. In this figure, the stream 32 is illustrated as being of fan-shape in vertical section but as being of reduced thickness.

The stream of this figure is directed away from the side wall I6 of the housing and covers an area which corresponds with substantially the entire width of the top wall of the cover and a portion of the side wall of the cover which overlies the side wall I1 of the main body portion of the housing.

Figure 6 illustrates the deflecting means in its upper limit of movement. The deflecting surface 31 has substantially no deflecting influence over the direction of discharge of the stream 32 and the curved blade 33 is entirely relied upon to obreceiving dishes, or the like, to be washed, rinsed,

and dried, and that as the stream'of fluid is directed toward the right hand side of the housing; i. e., the'side farthest removed from the discharge side of the trough 29, the stream 32 increases in concentration or density. This concentrating of the discharge stream has been found to be desirable as the stream is forced out of its natural-direction of discharge and would be lesseffective' if it'were not increased in density,

Although the deflecting means with its dual deflecting surfaces may be manually moved between'its two vertical and horizontal limits, it has been found to be much more practical to continuously operate the deflector means by power operated mechanism. To accomplish this desired result, one end of the rock-shaft 34 projects through a packing 38, mounted in the end wall I9 of the housing, and has connected thereto a lever arm 39, see Figs; 2 and 3. The outer end of this lever arm has pi'votall'y connected thereto a pitmanrod 40. The free end of this pitman' rod is connected to a crank pin 4| carried by the crank disc 42 which ismounted on the armature shaft 43of a small, slow speed, electric motor 44. A separate casing or housing 45 is illustrated in these two figures and in Fig. 1 as being employed'for enclosing these operating elements for the deflector member.

It has been determined that for the most efficient operating conditions, the electric motor 24 should be of a high speed type which will rotate the impeller shaft 22 at approximately 3500 R. P. M. The rock-shaft 34 of the deflector means should be rocked; or partially rotated in opposite directions, eight or more times per of rocking movement of [the shaft 34, and its deflector member, has a direct bearing on the extent" to which the s'tream 32 is concentrated "inclusive.

for reduced in thickness by the upward movement of the deflector blade 33 into the path of the discharge stream. In other words, the concentrating of the stream 32 is reduced or lessthe concentrating of the stream maybe varied.

Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive,disclose thelevel of the liquid in the bottom portion of the housing when the impeller wheels 26 are in operation Of course, the fluid will reach a common level in all partsfof thebottom' portion of the housing when the-impeller wheels arenot being rotated.

Any fluid whichcomes to rest in the bottom portion of the'housing between the return side 30 of the trough l and the side wall 11, is permitted to freely run back into the trough. The -fluid which drops into the bottom portion of the housing between the dischargeside 29 of shaft 34a is mounted adjacent the upper edge ;of the fixed deflector, blade 41. A transversely curved deflector blade 33a is carried by the rockshaft 34a. The. impeller shaft 22 .is illustrated in this figure, and it is to be understood that 1 this shaft carries the impeller wheels illustrated in the previously described Figs. 2 and 4 to 6,

In this modification, the fixed deflector blade f 41 functions as a permanent extension ofthe discharge side 29a of the trough. The deflector blade 33a is to be rockedfrom its extreme upper position, illustrated in Fig. 7, to its extreme lowerposition where itwill lie in,back of the .fixeddeflector blade 41, or..into the same relation'the. deflector blade 33 bears to the deflector surface 31 in Fig. 4.

When in this lowered position, thedeflector blade 41fwill constitute the sole direction controlling means for the fluid discharged from the trough I5a. As the deflector blade 33a moves upwardly above the upper edge of the fixed deflector blade 41, and into the path of the discharged stream of treatment fluid, the blade 33a takes over the function of deflecting the stream.

. The stream is deflected into the difierent portions of the housing interior by the fixed blade and the movable blade 33a in the same manher as is illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive.

:Ithas been determined that due to the rapid rate atwhich the impeller wheels 26 are rotated the fluid is not only picked up by the deflector .blades 28 and discharged radiallyfrom the tips or these blades but fluid is picked up in the spaces between the. adjacent impeller wheels and discharged 'fradiall'y along with the fluid dis-v charged from the tips of the impeller blades. 'Also, a certain amount of fluid moves, as a result .of side slip, laterally off of the advanced faces of the impeller blades into the spaces between the, adjacent impeller whe'els'and is discharged radially along with the fluid leaving the tips of the blades} As a result of this movement of fluid between the adjacentpairs of impeller wheels, the stream 32 has been found to'be of uniform "density throughout its width, or

throughout the length of the discharge side of thetrough. I It has been determined that this fluid impelling mechanism operates most effectively'and herein will be referred to asfollows.

The impellerwheels should be spaced approximately from /2 of an inch to 1 inches and the best-results are obtained when the impeller wheels are spaced exactly one inch apart. The

] tips of theimpeller blades clear all portions of the upper surface of thetrough l5 by at least of an inch. vThe impeller -'-blade tips should clear the deflecting surfaces 31 and 41, of Figs. 4 and 7, respectively, and the upper edges of the deflector blades 33 and 33a by approximately 34; of an inch, when these'blade's are arranged in their uppermost positions, as illustratedinFi gs, 6 and 7.

The dishes, silverware, glassware, and the like to be washed, rinsed, and dried by the mechanism disclosedand described herein may be supported within the housing ID, by means .of the rack structure disclosed in m'y aforesaid 'patent or by means of therack structure disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 210,937, filed May 31, 1938.

No attempt has been made to disclose in the drawings, means for feeding any kind of treatment fluid to the interior of the housing or means for drawing ofi or draining the fluid from the housing. Reference may be made to my aforementioned patent foras uitabl'e means of this nature. h i

In the normal operation of the machine, the housing 10 should be provided with the articles to be treated and the washing fluid, which is usually hot water and a suitable washing powder or fluid, and after thecover i3 is positioned upon the main body portion, the two motors 24 and 44 may be started. The washing operation requires approximately three minutes. After the dishes have been thoroughly washed, the washing fluid should be withdrawn from the housing and a proper amount of rinsing fluid, such as clear hot water, is then placed in the housing. The impeller wheels andthe deflector mechanism are operated during rinsing. After a rinsing period of from one-half minute to one minute, the rinsing fluid is withdrawn. Operation of the impeller and deflector devices is continued for a brief period to dry the dishes by circulating the I air within the housing. This air and the articles being treatedwithin the housing have had their temperatures raised by the use of the hot water during the washing and rinsing periods. Due

to this rise in temperature, the dishes are very quickly dried. .Thefdishes then may be removed I from thehousing in a thoroughly dry condition.

It is to be understood-that the forms of this invention herewith shown and described are to out departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope offthe jsubjoined' claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim: 1. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing, and

drying'machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an impellershaft journaled in the housing above said trough and eccentric thereto, a series of axially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades fixed to said shaft, the blades being of proper length to dip into saidtrough, means for rotating said shaft at a sufficiently high rate of speed to cause th impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from the more adjacent side of the trough, said'expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, and means arranged in juxtaposition to said adjacent side of the trough and rockably movable for changing the radial direction of discharge of said expelled fluid.

2. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing, and drying'machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an impeller shaft journaled ,in'the housing above said trough and eccentric thereto, a series of axially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades fixed to said shaft, the blades-being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotat- 1 ing said shaft at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from the more adjacent side of the trough, said expelled fiuid'bein'g in the form of a stream whichis substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, means arranged in juxtaposition to said adjacent side of the trough and rockably movable for changing the radial direction of discharge of said expelled fluid, and power means for continuously rocking said rockable means.

3; A dish-and silverware washing, rinsing, and drying machine comprising 'ahousing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an impeller shaft journaled in the housing above said trough and eccentric thereto, a series of axially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades fixed to said shaft, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said shaft at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from the more adjacent side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream whichis substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical sec 7 tion, and a transversely curved deflector blade a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an

impeller shaft journaled in the'housing above said trough and eccentric thereto, a series" of jaxially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades fixed to said shaft, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said shaft at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized conditionfr om the more adjacent side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width'to the length of the trough and is substantially famshaped in vertical section, a transversely curved deflector blade rockable about an axis arranged in juxtaposition to said adjacent side of the trough and in parallelism with the discharge side of the latter for changing the radial direction of discharge of said expelled fluid, and power means for continuously rocking said deflector blades.

5. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing, and

drying machine comprising a housing, a shallowtrough in the bottom thereof, a bladed impeller journaled in the housing above said trough, the' blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said impeller at asufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said x-' pelled fluid being in the form of a stream'which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a member having dual deflecting surfaces rockable about an axis arranged in pelled fluid into all portions of the housing interior.

6. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing, and

drying machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, animpeller shaft journaled in the housing above said trough, a series of axially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades flxed to said shaft, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said shaft at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a fixed deflector arranged to act as an extension of the discharge side of the trough for directing the stream into a portion of the housing interior adjacent said discharge side,

a movable deflector mounted to rock about anaxis arranged adjacent the upper'edge of and in parallelism with the upper edge of the fixed deflector, and means for continuously rocking said movable deflector between a position in back of the fixed deflector and a position in alignment with said flxed deflector for directing the stream into the remainder of the housing interior.

'7. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing, and drying machine comprising a housing, a shallow trough in the bottom thereof, a bladed impeller journaled in the housing above said trough, the blades being of proper length to dip intosaid trough, means for rotating said shaft at a sufficiently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in widthto the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a member having dual deflecting surfaces rockable about an axis arranged outside of the trough and in parallelism'with the discharge side of the latter for changing the radial direction of discharge of said stream, said dual deflecting surfaces being provided by a transversely curved blade and an enlarged inner edge portion of said blade, and means for rock ing said member so that its dual deflecting surfaces will collectively bring about repeated disone lateral edge of said trough, a deflector mem- 10 her mounted for rocking movement about an axis disposed below the horizontal plane of said impeller axis closely adjacent and parallel to the discharge edge of said trough, and means for continuously rocking said deflector member form changing the direction of discharge of the expelled fluid in such manner that the fluid will be periodically projected into different portions of the housing.

DONALD E. YOCHEM. 

